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Saturday, June 27, 2015

Episcopal Church Elects Its First Black Presiding Bishop

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSJUNE 27, 2015

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Bishop Michael Curry of North Carolina was elected in a landslide during the denomination’s national assembly on Saturday.CreditRick Bowmer/Associated PressSALT LAKE CITY — The Episcopal Church on Saturday elected its first African-American presiding bishop during the denomination’s national assembly.Bishop Michael Curry of North Carolina was elected in a vote by bishops at the Episcopal General Convention, the top legislative body of the church. Bishop Curry won among the bishops in a landslide, earning 121 votes. The other three candidates had 21 votes or less. The decision was affirmed on a vote of 800-12 by the House of Deputies, the voting body of clergy and lay participants at the meeting.Bishop Curry will succeed Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, who will complete her nine-year term on Nov. 1. She was the first female presiding bishop and the first woman to lead an Anglican national church. The New York-based Episcopal Church is the United States body of the Anglican Communion, a worldwide fellowship of churches with 80 million members and with roots in the Church of England.Bishop Curry, 62, has been bishop of North Carolina since 2000, leading a diocese of 48,000 church members, 112 congregations and a network of ministries. He will now lead a nearly 1.9 million-member sect known for its history as the faith home of many of the nation’s Founding Fathers and presidents.He is a Chicago native, and he and his wife, Sharon, have two daughters. Mr. Curry grew up in Buffalo, N.Y., and graduated from Hobart College and Yale Divinity School. He was ordained as a priest in North Carolina, leading parishes there and in Ohio. He then served for 12 years at St. James Church in Baltimore, Md., which was established in 1824 as the third black Episcopal congregation in the United States.Bishop Curry is known for his emphasis on evangelism, public service and social justice.The author of “Crazy Christians: A Call to Follow Jesus,” Bishop Curry has said he prays “for a church passionately committed to making disciples.”“At a deep level I am suggesting a churchwide spiritual revival of the Christian faith in the Episcopal way of being disciples of Jesus,” he said in the church materials introducing the candidates.He takes charge at a time when fewer Americans are formally affiliating with a particular religious group, contributing to steady membership declines in the Episcopal Church and other liberal Protestant groups, as well as some conservative churches.Membership in the Episcopal Church has dropped by 18 percent over the last decade. Next week, the General Convention will consider restructuring church bodies and redirecting spending to more effectively reach out to the public.Bishop Curry supports gay rights, speaking against North Carolina’s 2012 constitutional amendment that banned same-sex marriage, which is now invalid, and allowing same-sex church weddings in the North Carolina diocese. The denomination has emerged from a period of turmoil after the 2003 election of Bishop V. Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in the Anglican Communion. Many Episcopal conservatives left or distanced themselves from the national church after his election.The convention also plans to vote on eliminating gender-specific language from church laws on marriage so religious weddings can be performed for same-sex couples. Clergy could decline to perform the ceremonies. Right now, each bishop decides whether their priests can conduct same-sex marriageshttp://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/28/us/episcopal-church-elects-its-first-black-presiding-bishop.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=second-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

*The Anglican Church in Central America (Anglican Communion)

Iglesia Anglicana de la Region Central de America is a province of the Anglican Communion, covering 5 sees in Central America. The Bishop of Nicaragua, the Most Reverend Sturdie Downs was recently consecrated for a four-year term of office as Primate. Presiding Bishop Sturdie follows their Grace Martin de Jesus Barahona of El Salvador and Armando Guerra of Guatemala (click on crest for more information)

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Queen Elizabeth II, The Supreme Governor of the Church of England/Anglican Communion

The Supreme Governor of the Church of England is a title held by the British monarch that signifies titular leadership over the Church of England. Although the monarch's authority over the Church of England is largely ceremonial, the position is still very relevant to the church and is mostly observed in a symbolic capacity. The Supreme Governor formally appoints high-ranking members of the church on the advice of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, who is in turn advised by church leaders (click on photo of Queen Elizabeth)

Archbishop Justin, Primate of the Church of England

The Most Reverend Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury: ¨God breaks down all barriers, a Church seeking justice will find a way...¨ (click on photo)

Welcome to the Mission of St. Alban in Antigua! Whether you are a long time resident, visiting for a short time, or planning a visit to our beautiful city in the future, you will find a loving and helpful community of worship right here for you! Of all the experiences of living in or traveling to a special place like Antigua, Guatemala, one that that stays with us the longest is that of worship. "I loved my visit to Antigua surrounded by people and places of faith for centuries and a special highlight was that I was able to worship and commune with God while I was there with a fellowhip of persons worshipping in the remains of a 17th Century convent. I'll never forget it!" This is St. Alban's Mission, an Episcopal community, inviting you to join us for worship and fellowship every Sunday at 10am. Find us at Convento Concepcion, 4to Calle Oriente. Come as you are, through the great doors of the Convento, and find welcome in a community of friendship and prayer in Jesus Christ! In Him, John Smith, Vicar 5235-6674 cell telephone (502 country code)

The World Around Us: The Episcopal Church in Guatemala and the Anglican Communion

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Saint Alban

Saint Alban is venerated as the first British Christian martyr. Along with his fellow saints Amphibalus, Julius and Aaron, Alban is one of four named martyrs remembered from Roman Britain. He was martyred by beheading in the Roman city of Verulamium (modern St. Alban's Cathedral) sometime during the 3rd or 4th century, and his cult has been celebrated there since ancient times. (click on photo for full history of St. Alban)

About Book of Common Prayer

The Book of Common Prayer is the short title of a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion, as well as by the Continuing Anglican, "Anglican realignment" and other Anglican churches. The original book, published in 1549 (Church of England 1957), in the reign of Edward VI, was a product of the English Reformation following the break with Rome. Prayer books, unlike books of prayers, contain the words of structured (or liturgical) services of worship. The work of 1549 was the first prayer book to include the complete forms of service for daily and Sunday worship in English. It contained Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, the Litany, and Holy Communion and also the occasional services in full: the orders for Baptism, Confirmation, Marriage, 'prayers to be said with the sick' and a Funeral service. It also set out in full the "propers" (that is the parts of the service which varied week by week or, at times, daily throughout the Church's Year): the collects and the epistle and gospel readings for the Sunday Communion Service. Old Testament and New Testament readings for daily prayer were specified in tabular format as were the Psalms; and canticles, mostly biblical, that were provided to be said or sung between the readings (Careless 2003, p. 26) (read it all, click on photo)